Yulin 2020

Our founder Du Yufeng decided she wasn't going to go to Yulin this year but at the last minute she had to see for herself whether anything would change after dogs were not listed as livestock in the new National Catalogue of Livestock and Poultry but, it was business as usual for the butchers.

In the afternoon of June 20th, volunteers from Jiangsu met with Du to discuss what to do. Du's main purpose for visiting Yulin, and Nanning, was to meet with the governments and submit a letter of complaint.

​Du is taking advantage of the dreadful pandemic that has swept across the world, to highlight that dogs and cats should not be eaten. Meeting with officials, 

She and the Jiangsu volunteers reported the farmers markets for killing dogs and selling the meat.
Du will go to the Nanning Market Supervision and Administration Bureau to urge them to go to the farmers markets to enforce the law.
​
​The world is watching and waiting.

From the moment they arrived, Du and the Jiangsu volunteers have had motorcycles and cars trying to wedge them in and not let them pass. They have also been followed by Yulin Public Security in plain clothes.

​The streets and market stalls are considerably quieter than previous years.

Early in the mornings the slaughtering of dogs is happening and their meat sold. It is definitely business as usual.
​

​UPDATE:

Du is at a stall right now where they slaughter dogs. She is trying to negotiate with the butcher to buy some of them. The butchers know Du and like to upset her. Some wouldn't let her take any of their dogs - or cats because there were cats there to be killed too.
2 of the black dogs at the butcher's are the ones you saw yesterday in the cage on the back of a motorcycle.
Your donation will help to free some dogs, medicate and feed them then fly them back to Guangyuan.
Please donate whatever you an, however small. It will help to save lives. Thank you.

​Cats and their meat could be slaughtered too....

UPDATE:

Du has negotiated with the butcher to buy 16 dogs including the black ones on the back of the motorcycle yesterday. They are being weighed to determine how much the butcher wants for their lives. As you can see, some of the dogs have collars on them. Please keep donating what you can. Apart from the cost to buy the dogs, it is the cost of the treatment they will need and the enormous cost of the transport to get them 1500km back to Guangyuan. Thank you for your generosity.

The 16 dogs rescued were joined by one more, a disabled dog, making 17 lives saved from slaughter.
Our founder Du Yufeng had to stand and watch the butchers as they took the dogs out one by one with iron clamps: the 'normal' way that they handle 'meat dogs'. Some had collars on them, clearly stolen pets or guard dogs.
After being weighed one by one they were put into smaller cages to be transported via taxi to a waiting lorry that Du had to hire along with the driver. Flying the dogs home was not an option.
Guangyuan is 1500km away so it is more than a 24 hour drive back to our shelter.
Driving through the night, they have stopped regularly to give the dogs rest, food and water before they carried on.
They are still on the road.
We can not thank you all enough for your donations and we hate to ask for more but the rescue does not stop when the dogs are handed over to us.
We still need to pay the driver for the hire of the lorry and we also need to give these dogs the medication and food they need to recover from their ordeal when we are back in Guangyuan.
NO dog deserves the disregard for their life and the torture they have to go through for someone's meal.
These 17 dogs will join the other survivors back at our shelter and hopefully in time they will find their forever homes.
Please donate what you can, we really do appreciate it.
Thank you 🐾

UPDATE:-

During the 1500 km drive from Yulin back to Guangyuan, Du and the driver of the lorry she hired stopped several times to check on the dogs and to give them water. Most of the dogs took the water gladly, if a little timidly but a couple of the dogs were so scared when the driver went to pull their cages away from the others so that Du could get in to give them all water, that they cried hysterically (you can hear them on the video).
Some of these rescued dogs are PUPPIES and one is a mother who has recently given birth, but those puppies are not hers.....
We can't begin to know what went through their minds as they saw dogs tortured and butchered in front of them. We only know what we think of that and their body language shows just how scared out of their wits that they were; and some still are. One of the dogs that Du thought was disabled has in fact got a nasty wound on it's back leg. That will be treated when they are back at the shelter. 
The driver of the lorry meant them no harm. He is a dog lover himself and helped Du to give the dogs some ham sausage on the road to give their hungry bellies something until they arrive at the shelter. But of course the dogs don't know whether he is friend or enemy.
Thank you to you all so much for donating your hard earned money to help us with these dogs. We know it is an uncertain time and some of you or your family may even have lost your jobs yet you still find it in your hearts to spare a few dollars to help our furry friends. 
Thank you! Xièxiè! 谢谢!

After over 24 hours on the road including stops to check the dogs were ok, our founder Du Yufeng and the driver and lorry she hired finally reached our shelter in Guangyuan.
The dogs were taken to a room to quarantine away from the other dogs and assess them. They were given food and water with supplements to help nourish them and to aide their digestion. The little white dog with the infected leg was then treated and his wounds cleaned. 
Du has hardly had any sleep since she left for Yulin but the dogs are and always have been her priority.  We are advising her to look after herself as well.
Over the next few days the dogs will be assessed. Lots are really skinny. Some are happy and waggy tailed like the black labrador, clearly once a pet who someone paid a lot of money for. There are also two German Shepherds, what looks like a Staffordshire/Pit Bull Terrier who has recently given birth and a Shar Pei cross. All expensive breeds.
If you can help us to pay for their treatment and food and supplements please donate. We would all appreciate it. 
Thank you for your continued support.

UPDATE:-

The dogs have all been vaccinated and de wormed and de flead.

The white dog with the wounded leg has turned out to be quite sick. He's been having regular trips to the pet hospital where Doctor Li has been giving him fluids and other medicines.
Today, one of our Golden Retrievers, Nian Zong donated his blood to help the little dog. It's going to be a good few days until we know if he will be strong enough to pull through completely but we won't give up on him.
Most of the other dogs are doing ok. A couple have Canine Distemper but they are being treated. Some of the others are malnourished. All have been wormed and de-flead.
Thank you for your continued donations. Vet bills are high at the best of times so you are helping to pay those so that we can continue to treat the sick.

UPDATE:-
​
The last few weeks since we rescued the dogs from Yulin have been filled with tending to these sick fur children, day and night. Canine Distemper, malnutrition, fleas, internal parasites have all needed to be treated.
The internal parasites especially are having such an effect on some of the dogs that we have had to send faecal samples to a laboratory to try and find a treatment that some of the dogs can tolerate so that they can begin gaining weight and strength. 
There are various injuries. The worst are the white dog's legs and a German Shepherd's neck where it looks like a collar or chain has been on so tight that it has ripped the skin away.
We thank you so much for your support in helping these dogs. Now, we need your help again so that we can pay the vet and laboratory. 
A pet hospital in Chengdu who we have partnered with previously have sent us medicines and vaccines but we still need to pay those too.
Rescuing is the easy part, the weeks and sometimes months of aftercare are the hardest 
Donations  help to save lives so we appreciate greatly whatever you can spare, however small you think it might be. 
Thank you!

UPDATE:-

​The dogs rescued with Canine Distemper are getting better except for one, a Belgian Malinois, who has not been gaining weight. We are taking him to the pet hospital for tests.

UPDATE:-

The Malinois and another dog,both rescued from Yulin Dog Meat Festival this year have been back at the vets. The Malinois, named Shan Ting, has been unable to gain weight and is anaemic. He has been one of the strong, brave ones who were very ill with Canine Distemper. You can see the ticks he is left with from that as the nurse inserts the needle. Hopefully now he is at a turning point and can begin to get well enough to hopefully be adopted in the future.
Vets bills are very expensive. We cannot pay them without your donations